How is Jack presented in Lord of the Flies?

Throughout the novel Jack becomes more and more obsessed with hunting. At the beginning of the novel Jack cannot bring himself to kill the pig and dismisses it by saying ‘next time’. However, in chapter 3 he starts to become animal like as he was ‘comfortably down on all fours’ and ‘his nose only a few inches from the humid floor’ which shows he is determined to kill. He is the first of the boys to kill a pig. As the novel progresses he starts to have ‘compulsion to track down and kill’ and a ‘madness’ comes into his eyes when he thinks of hunting. This shows how his obsession grows that he gets a thrill out of hunting and he is extremely bloodthirsty. When he paints his face he sees himself as an ‘awesome stranger’ which allows him not to feel responsible for his actions.

Jack prefers fun to responsibility. He only wants to enjoy himself on the island and he soon forgets about being rescued. To the reader he represents a person who does whatever they want regardless of the consequences, logic and moral. He doesn’t take responsibilities of the other boys either. He tells the others to leave Simon alone when he faints, he bullies Piggy and he calls the littleuns ‘cry-babies’ for being afraid of the beast.

At the beginning the phrase ‘inside the floating cloak he was tall, thin and bony’ is used to describe Jack which suggests to the reader he is a weak and sinister character. His ‘hair was red’ symbolises Jack’s fiery temper and his eyes were ‘turning, or ready to turn, to anger’ suggests he can be bad tempered and nasty. Jack is also arrogant which is shown through the way he speaks as he gives out lots of commands and he says things in a forceful way which is shown through the quote ‘I ought to be chief’. He is naturally violent and aggressive which is shown through his actions and his style of leading. Jack is also controlling as he questions the boys ‘what d’you mean by not joining my tribe?’ which shows he wants control of everyone on the island.

Jack has a complicated relationship with Ralph as at first they smile at each other with ‘shy liking’ which shows they could be friends. Tension builds between the pair when Jack lets the fire go out which shows they can’t resolve the conflict between fun and responsibility. The fire is important to the boys as it symbolises the chance of being rescued and is their only hope. In the end the result is that Jack takes over the leadership from Ralph and tries to kill Ralph by setting a huge fire to smoke Ralph out but it is ironic as this leads to the boys being rescues as the naval officer tells Ralph ‘we saw your smoke’. The conflict between them both builds tension for the reader. Golding uses the conflict between them both to represent the key theme of civilisation and savagery. Ralph represents the civilisation as he wants to have fun but knows they need rules to make them act responsibly, he also uses the ‘conch’ to call a meeting. The conch symbolises civilisation and authority. Jack however, represents savagery. At first he says they need rules because there not ‘savages’ which is ironic as he soon turns into a savage. At first his hunting fits with the civilisation but soon turns into savagery as the ‘fierce exhilaration’ of hunting takes over. He breaks the conch which represents the victory of savagery over civilisation and hits Piggy leading to his glasses being broken. The glasses represent reason and logic and when they are broken it symbolises the break down of rational thinking. The new group Jack starts is complete savagery as one of the first things they do is viciously kill a sow, which has sexual references as when they kill her they’re ‘heavy and fulfilled’ which may be the reason behind their violence. They kill Simon which Golding describes as ‘tearing of teeth and claws’ which suggests the boys are animals. Jack’s painted face provides ‘liberation into savagery’ and it makes them ‘anonymous’ which suggests no-one has to take individual responsibility for the violence.

Jack uses fear to control the boy’s behaviours. He tells the boys if they join his tribe his hunters will protect them from the beast. The beast symbolises fear and the atmosphere becomes more terrifying. He tells them that the beast can disguise itself, it’s a ‘hunter’ and ‘he may come again even though we gave him the head of our kill to eat’. In addition he tells them they can never really kill him which leads to the boys feeling insecure and threatened.  This suggests Jack does this to keep power over the boys and to maintain leadership.

 In conclusion Jack is represented as a savage in ‘Lord of the Flies’. Golding uses his character to convey violence, fear and leadership. However, the main point is that Jack represents the evil that Golding believed was in everyone that would come out if the rules of society were taken away.